(Honolulu) – The DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW) is issuing a Request for Interest (RFI) seeking partners and innovative projects for two U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service competitive natural resource grant programs: Wildland-Urban Interface and Landscape Scale Restoration grants.

Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) grants provide funds to mitigate risk from wildland fire. Funds are awarded through a competitive process with emphasis on hazardous fuel reduction, information and education, assessment and planning, and monitoring through community and landowner action.

Hawai‘i projects have previously received WUI grants. In 2015 a grant was awarded to the Hawai‘i Wildfire Management Organization to update plans and create community wildfire protection plans (CWPP) statewide. Once a community develops a wildfire protection plan, they can apply for funds through the WUI grant program to implement educational or fuels reduction projects. Currently, there are 13 community wildfire protection plans statewide.

“State lands are applicable, community associations, nonprofits, anybody that has a project that works within the state’s forest action plan is applicable. Anything from creating a fuel break or a fire break, or by reducing hazardous fuels like a grassland with a controlled grazing program,” said Michael Walker, DOFAW’s Fire Protection Forester

Landscape Scale Restoration grants address priority landscapes and issues identified in the Hawai‘i Forest Action Plan and encourages collaborative, science-based restoration projects that encompass a diversity of ownerships and are at a scale that can address the natural resource issues identified in the project.

A successful previous project in 2018 funded by this program will establish seed orchards of Hawaiian sandalwood across the state to produce high quality seeds and promote sustainable reforestation and restoration within priority watersheds.

DOFAW is looking for other non-federal landowners, agencies and organizations that are collaborating on joint projects across land ownership and management boundaries that could be enhanced through these grant opportunities for both the WUI and Landscape Scale Restoration programs. Draft applications for 2020 for both grants will be accepted by DOFAW until 12:00 PM (HST) August 16, 2019.

Non-federal landowners, agencies and organizations interested in responding to this request for interest and receiving instructions on how to apply are asked to register their organization by July 19, 2019 providing a contact name, address, phone number, and email address for the WUI program to Michael Walker at (808) 587-4188 or [email protected] or for the Landscape Scale Restoration program to Tanya Rubenstein at (808) 587-0027 or [email protected].